Wyden pushes water, logging bills

Read the article in Eugene Register Guard about Senator Merkley's gift to the timber industry. In the 1980's it's agreed by most forest biologists not funded by the logging industry, that there was mass over-cutting of the forests in the Pacific Northwest. This O&C clear cutting bill is a gift to the timber industry at the cost of the people, clean water, air, biodiversity and long term economic health.

In the 1980's it's agreed by most forest biologists not funded by the logging industry, that there was mass over-cutting of the forests in the Pacific Northwest. This O&C clear cutting bill is a gift to the timber industry at the cost of the people, clean water, air, biodiversity and long term economic health.

Very few jobs would be created. Thinning and labor intensive forest management would employ many more people in Oregon rather than the clear cut logging they have planned. It's given a different name, which would leave a clump of trees in a clear cut. There is also the fact that the federal forests in the Pacific Northwest are great carbon sinks, whereas the forests on private and state lands are carbon neutral. Under this bill many trees hundreds of years old will be cut- only "stands" of old growth will be protected.

It's time to look at alternatives for funding our economically stressed counties, looking into getting paid for NOT cutting our forests for the carbon they sequester, the tourism dollars they bring in, the habitat they provide for countless species and future generations. Logging on private forests have increased 75% in the last two years in Lane County and I witness is every day out here in the Dexter area. The ONLY areas that have not been cut are the BLM forest lands in patchwork. Wildlife are stressed as poisons are sprayed and habitat destroyed even further. It's time to tax the timber industry for all the external costs of clear cutting perhaps as part of a price on carbon which should include clear cut logging. These federal forests in the Pacific Northwest are one of the top ten forests in the world for carbon sequestration.